Rioplatense Spanish

Rioplatense Spanish (Spanish: "Español rioplatense", although locally known as castellano rioplatense) is a dialect of the Spanish language which is mainly spoken in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin (or River Plate region), between Argentina and Uruguay. It should be noted that in the River Plate region the usual word employed to name the "Spanish" language is castellano (that is, Castilian) and seldom "español" (that is, Spanish) as in other parts of Latin America. The term español is only employed when talking to foreigners who may not be familiar with the local dialect.

Note that, while the article refers to Rioplatense Spanish as a single dialect, there are distinguishable differences among the varieties spoken in Argentina and in Uruguay, as described below.

Location

Rioplatense is mainly based in the cities of Buenos Aires, La Plata, Rosario (Argentina), and Montevideo (Uruguay), the four most populated cities in the dialectal area, along with their respective suburbs and the areas in between. This regional form of Spanish is also found in other areas, not geographically close but culturally influenced by those population centers (e.g., in parts of Paraguay). Rioplatense is the standard in audiovisual media in Argentina and Uruguay. To the northeast exists the hybrid Riverense Portuñol.

Influences on the language

The Spaniards brought their language to the area during the Spanish colonization in the region. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Río de la Plata basin had its status lifted to Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776.

Until the massive immigration to the region started in the 1870s, the language of the Río de la Plata had virtually no influence from other languages and varied mainly by the means of localisms. Argentines and Uruguayans often state that their populations, like those of the United States and Canada, comprise people of relatively recent European descent, the largest immigrant groups being those who came from Spain and Italy.

European immigration

Several languages influenced the "criollo" Spanish of the time, because of the diversity of settlers and immigrants to Argentina and Uruguay:
* 1870–1890: mainly Spanish, Basque, Galician and Northern Italian speakers and some from France, Germany, and other European countries.
* 1910–1945: Again from Spain, Southern Italy and in smaller numbers from across Europe; Jewish immigration, mainly from Russia and Poland from the 1910s until after World War II was also large.
* English speakers, from Britain and Ireland, were not as great in numbers as the Italians but were influential in industry, business, education and agriculture. In the case of the English immigrants, they were certainly influential within the upper middle class.

Influence of indigenous populations in Argentina

Native American populations were decimated during the early settlement (before 1810), and also during the expansion into Patagonia (after 1870). However, the interaction between Spanish and several of the native languages has left visible traces. Words from Guarani, Quechua and others were incorporated into the local form of Spanish, and some have even reached English.

Some words of American origin commonly used in Rioplatense Spanish are:
* From Quechua: "gaucho" (orig. "wakcha" "poor person"); "pochoclo" ("popcorn")
* From Guarani: "pororó" (also "popcorn")

:"See Influences on the Spanish language for a more comprehensive review of borrowings into all dialects of Spanish."

Linguistic features

Vocabulary

Differences between dialects of Spanish are numerous; about 9,000 Rioplatense words Fact|date=June 2007 are not used or, in many cases, even understood elsewhere. These include many terms from the basic vocabulary, such as words for fruits, garments, foodstuffs, car parts, etc., as well as local slang.

The vocabularies of both varieties are further diverging as Rioplatense Spanish tends to borrow (or calque) technical words from American English, while Peninsular Spanish tends to borrow or calque them from British English or French.

For the "-ir" verbs, the Peninsular "vosotros" forms end in "-ís", so there is no diphthong to simplify, and Rioplatense "vos" employs the same form: instead of "tú vives", "vos vivís"; instead of "tú vienes", "vos venís" (note the alternation).

The imperative forms for "vos" are identical to the plural imperative forms in Peninsular minus the final "-d" (stress remains the same):

*"Hablá más alto, por favor." "Speak louder, please." ("hablad" in Peninsular)
*"Comé un poco de torta." "Eat some cake." ("comed" in Peninsular)
*"Vení para acá." "Come over here." ("venid" in Peninsular)

The plural imperative uses the "ustedes" form (i. e. the third person plural subjunctive, as corresponding to "ellos").

As for the subjunctive forms of "vos" verbs, while they tend to take the "tú" conjugation, some speakers do use the classical "vos" conjugation, employing the "vosotros" form minus the "i" in the final diphthong. Many consider only the "tú" subjunctive forms to be correct.

*"Espero que veas" or "Espero que veás" "I hope you can see" (Peninsular "veáis")
*"Lo que quieras" or (less used) "Lo que querás" "Whatever you want" (Peninsular "queráis")

In the preterite tense, an "s" is often added, for instance "(vos) perdistes". This corresponds to the classical "vos" conjugation found in literature. Compare Iberian Spanish form "vosotros perdisteis". However, it is often deemed incorrect.

Other verb forms coincide with "tú" after the "i" is omitted (the "vos" forms are the same as "tú").

*"Si salieras" "If you went out" (Peninsular "salierais")

Usage

In the old times, "vos" was used as a respectful term. In Rioplatense, as in most other dialects which employ "voseo", this pronoun has become informal, shoving out the use of "tú" (compare "you" in English, which used to be formal singular but has replaced and obliterated the former informal singular pronoun "thou"). It is used especially for addressing friends and family members (regardless of age), but may also include most acquaintances, such as coworkers, friends of one's friends, etc.

Usage of tenses

Although literary works use the full spectrum of verb inflections, in Rioplatense (as well as many other Spanish dialects), the future tense has been replaced by a verbal phrase (periphrasis) in the spoken language.

This verb phrase is formed by the verb "ir" ("go") followed by the preposition "a" and the main verb in the infinitive. This is akin to the English phrase "going to" + infinitive verb. For example:

*"Creo que descansaré un poco" → "Creo que voy a descansar un poco"
*"Mañana me visitará mi madre" → "Mañana me va a visitar mi madre"
*"Iré a visitarla mañana" → "Voy a ir a visitarla mañana"

The present perfect tense (Spanish: Pretérito perfecto compuesto), just like "pretérito anterior", is rarely used, so it's replaced for simple past.

*"Juan no ha llegado" → "Juan no llegó todavía"
*"El torneo ha comenzado" → "El torneo ya empezó"

References

ee also

*Voseo
*Lunfardo, Buenos Aires slang argot
*Spanish dialects and varieties
*Immigration to Argentina

External links

*es icon [http://www.elcastellano.org/miyara/ Diccionario argentino-español]
* [http://argentineslang.wordpress.com/ Argentine Spanish Slang Dictionary]
* [http://www.onlinespanishhelp.com/ Learn Spanish with Argentina speakers]
* [http://www.voseospanish.com/ Learn Argentine Spanish]